Russia Requires Wi-Fi Registration

By Glenn Fleishman

Russian regulator requires registration: The folks at the Rossvyazokhrankultura (Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service) have decided that every device with Wi-Fi inside requires registration for use by an individual user without a transferrable license, according to The Other Russia, which picked the story up from Russian-language site Fontanka.ru.

While Wi-Fi wasn’t as broadly unlicensed in Russia as it is in most other industrialized nations, a state regulator exempted indoor use in certain bands from registration. The Mass Media agency apparently believes that it has the authority to compel this, although there’s some doubt by observers as to whether it really falls in their purview.

Setting up a home Wi-Fi network or a hotspot would require what sounds like vast amounts of paperwork, akin to putting a cell tower.

~ ~ ~ ~

(Are they serious, as usual??)

must be to keep the world safer from terror threats...oh, wait you wrote Russia not USA, my mistake.

You sink zat's FUNny? Vee shall visit vith you soon.

In Soviet Russia, wifi owns you!

I'll let you know how it goes in May when I go. I brought my N810 last time to make the 10 hour flight go quicker.

I knew someone would say one of those. At least it wasn't me this time.

Hehe, someone always says one so I thought I'd do it for a change

Didn't you hear about "tear down those walls!"?

In Democratic Russia, wifi owns you.

/slashdot